Saturday, April 2, 2016

Shell faces corruption probe over $1bn oil deal in Nigeria

Italian officials to investigate company's role in acquisition of disputed oil block jointly owned with energy group ENI

Continue after the cut ...Shell appears the latest global giant to come under the hammer of the current spate of fact finding and cleansing regarding the business aquisition methods and standards in the energy sector.
Italian anti-corruption investigators have opened a formal
investigation into Shell’s acquisition of a stake in a $1.09bn (£755m)
oil block in Nigeria.
Shell co-owns the offshore oil block with the Italian energy group Eni.
Prosecutors in Milan have been investigating Eni executives involved in the deal since 2014. It seems Shell is now being dragged into the investigation.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant confirmed on Wednesday that its offices had been “visited” by anti-fraud investigators in February.

Dan Etete: Former Nigerian Petroleum Minister

A spokesman for Shell said: “The visit was related to OPL 245, an
offshore block in Nigeria that was the subject of a series of
long-standing disputes with the federal government of Nigeria. Shell is
cooperating with the authorities and is looking into the allegations,
which it takes seriously.”
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Dutch
Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) and the Dutch
public prosecutor had raided the multinational’s office in the Hague

The oil block is estimated to contain up to 9bn barrels of crude, and has been at the centre of a series of disputes since 1998.
Dan Etete, who was oil minister in Nigeria under the military
dictator general Sani Abacha, awarded the oil block to a company called
Malabu oil.
The field was subsequently sold in 2011 to Eni and Shell. Shell and
Eni paid the Nigerian government, but $1.09bn was subsequently sent to
Malabu.
Shell and Eni both insist that they did not know this would happen.
The probe into Eni was triggered after an intermediary in the deal, Emeka Obi, sued Malabu in Britain’s high court.
In response to the news that it is being drawn into the investigation
a spokesman said: “Shell attaches the greatest importance to business
integrity.

“It’s one of our core values and is a central tenet of the principles
that govern the way we do business. All employees are expected to
uphold these principles and failure to do so will result in consequences
up to and including dismissal.”

Credit: Guardian Lets us know what you think of this article. Like? Dislike? Funny? Interesting? Cool? Drop us a line in the comment box or join us on facebook and twitter to help us give you a better reading experience